Confronting Power Dynamics in Collaborative Educational Research: The Power of Dialogue-based Research for Educational Systems Transformation

• In Event: Collaboration and alignment of multiple actors for systemic improvement and educational change

Proposal

Calls to ‘decolonize methodologies,’ ‘decolonize knowledge,’ and ‘localize research” have brought to light historical inequities and power dynamics in international research agendas and practices (see Tuhiwai Smith, 2012, 2019; Connel, 2016; Baronogo-Muweke, 2016). International and comparative educational researchers and institutions have upheld a long history of using extractive methodologies and practices to study educational systems and communities in the global South with little attention paid to disrupting power dynamics and differentials (Huaman Smith & Martin, 2020). For example, many international educational institutions hold hermeneutical and informational power (Cossa, 2008). Hermeneutical power is the control over research agendas and interpretation of research; informational power is the capacity to produce and share what is “considered true and valuable information at a given time” (Cossa, 2008, 107). This paper argues that conducting collaborative research between institutions and communities from diverse geographies, cultures, and languages requires addressing power inequities and dynamics as well as collectively navigating research purposes, methodologies, and approaches. Furthermore, the authors show how using dialogue-based research, or research conducted with the intention of supporting critical dialogues in communities where the research takes place, helps ensure that research is meaningful, intentional, and ethical.

This paper details the dialogue-based research approach used by five research collaboratives–consisting of civil society organizations, local governments, and an international research institution–seeking to improve family, school, and community engagement in their communities in Colombia; Maharashtra, India; Mauritius; Sierra Leone; Zanzibar, Tanzania. Each case study recounts why each of the five community based organizations initiated the research and how they collectively set their research agendas with government and research partners. The paper also delves into the research methodology and approach, and how quantitative surveys with teachers, families, and students were used to capture beliefs on education and family engagement and how research was then used towards critical dialogues with communities to discuss how to improve engagement and partnerships between families, schools, and communities. Through the research, barriers and opportunities for improving family, school, and community engagement in their communities were identified and each research team and their respective communities determined how they would use the research to catalyze change in their school or education institution. For example, in Colombia school-based strategies for family-school-community engagement were developed through collective conversations with families and school representatives. The survey results were used to frame these conversations, which focused on unpacking beliefs on the purpose of school, trust between families and schools, and barriers and opportunities for family-school-community engagement in each of the five cases. The main intent of this collective research was to support positive social change and educational transformation. Although some research teams published some of their findings, this was a secondary outcome of the research.

‘Improving Education for a More Equitable World’ requires confronting unequal research dynamics and relationships, and creating new models and imaginaries of how to collaborate. This paper describes how researchers, practitioners, and governments from five diverse geographies, cultures, and languages forged dialogue-based research with the aim of furthering family, school, and community partnerships. Findings have been formulated into three key recommendations for research teams. First, that responsive and meaningful research agendas must come from barriers and opportunities identified by communities, not from those set by external agencies and entities. Second, research design and roles must be collectively negotiated between collaborative teams, and community based organizations should take the lead in assigning and designating research roles and determining where they need research support from global experts. Third, community dialogues on the research are critical to ensuring the research is interpreted as the respondents intended, but more importantly that findings are transparent and meaningful.The pivot toward a more equitable research agenda can be the first step in reimagining research approaches and transforming power dynamics to unlock community-driven insights and solutions.

Author

• Emily Markovich Morris, The Brookings Institution